devotion
by chibi-taicho
Summary: Rangiku finds hitsugaya fighting an unknown foe... will she help defeat the powerful new enemy, or will she only cause her captian to be worse off? slightly hitsumatsu
1. prolouge

Captain Kurotsuchi tapped his fingers impatiently on his desk as he waited for his lieutenant. "NEMU!" he called again, yet still there was no reply. _Where is that useless girl?_

"Taicho?" his lieutenant entered the room. Her long black hair, which was kept in a braid, was held at the end by a large, red bead. Her black shihakusho came down only to above her mid-thigh, and she wore white, fingerless gloves on her hands.

"Finally!" he exclaimed, "Where have you been, Nemu? Never mind that, are you caught up on the situation?"

"Yes sir." She answered, "It's just as we feared, there's trouble in the Rukon District. An explosion took place just twenty miles outside the south gate."

Kurotsuchi cursed and jumped out of his seat, scattering his paperwork over his dark, messy office. "Clean this mess up." He ordered his lieutenant as he dashed out the door. Making his way through the Seirietei, the captain of squad twelve came to the south gate. Glancing at the gate keeper, he ran out into the Rukon District and down to where the explosion was supposed to have taken place.

He hadn't gone tree miles, though, when he noticed Rangiku, the lieutenant of squad ten making her way toward him. He noticed she was carrying something. As she got closer, Kurotsuchi realized it was Toshiro Hitsugaya, the young captain of squad ten.

Kurotsuchi's eyes widened as he noticed the blood covering the child captain. His white, captain's haori was tattered and torn, as was his shihakusho. "What happened?"

"I'll explain later," She said hurriedly, "but please, taicho, go and inform Unohana taicho of Hitsugaya taicho's condition." As if in response, the young captain groaned and, with a bloody hand, clutched his lieutenant's pink scarf she wore draped over her shoulder's

"Of course." With that, the captain of squad twelve turned and flash-stepped away.

"Hold on taicho." Rangiku spoke to Hitsugaya as she cradled him closer to her.

Kurotsuchi dashed through the door of the squad four barracks, running onto Lieutenant Isane. "Where's Unohana?"

"In her office." She answered, quite perplexed by the fact that the captain of research and development was in the healing department barracks. "Is something wrong?"

Not replying, the captain dashed pasted her and burst into the office of the squad four captain. "Unohana, get a place ready for Toshiro Hitsugaya, he's severely injured."

The motherly-looking captain got up from her desk, wasting no time with questions, she ordered her subordinates to get the medical room ready for the patient.

Rangiku ran as fast as she could through the Seirietei. She knew the squad four barracks lay near the north gate. Rounding the North corner, she ran into Captain of squad thirteen, Jushiro Ukitake.

"Rangiku?" he then noticed the small figure in her arms, "Shiro-chan!?"

"Please, Ukitake taicho," she pleaded, "I'll explain later, but now I have to get my captain to squad four."

"Of course, I shall go inform Yamamoto sotaicho."

Both parted, Ukitake headed to the squad one barracks. He put on a burst of speed; Hitsugaya was like a son to him. Ever since the boy had entered the thirteen court guard squads, he had taken to the young one, and even more so when Hitsugaya had become the youngest Shinigami ever to become a captain. He wondered what could have possibly happened to the child protégée.

Ukitake came to the Squad one barracks, "Ukitake taicho of squad thirteen, requesting a meeting!" he bellowed.

"Enter!" boomed the voice within.

Rangiku was almost at the barracks, she couldn't believe how long it had taken her to get there. But she did have a fair sized wound on her leg, and she was carrying her unconscious captain. _It's a good thing you're light_. She thought. Making her way up to the raised wooden floor of the barracks, she tripped. The young captain clutched her scarf even tighter and groaned. Rangiku looked down at him, in his unconscious state, he really looked more like a small, innocent child.

"Hold on, taicho" she whispered, then she burst through the doors. "UNOHANA TAICHO!"


	2. what did i do?

Ichigo Kurosaki walked though the streets of Karakura Town. _Why the hell is everything so damn boring?_ He thought as he walked up to the front porch of his house. Just that day he had hung out with his friend Keigo, but soon became very annoyed by his friend and left. He'd tried to find somewhere else to hang out, but nothing was interesting.

He opened the door to his house. "ICHIGO!!!!!!!!!!!"

He was immediately attacked by his dad, which was normal in the Kurosaki household. Ichigo engaged his father in combat; the end result was him being victorious. "Seriously, dad, is that any way to welcome home your own son?" he asked as he walked by his dad on the floor.

"There is nothing more I can teach you my son." His voice was filled with annoying pride.

"Whatever, I'll be in my room."

Rukia Kuchki exited the senkaimon, right next to Urahara's shop.

"What brings you here, Rukia." The ex-Shinigami greeted her.

"trouble." She answered. The man pulled his green and white striped hat down over his eyes.

"How bad?" he asked.

"We don't know yet, but we're calling all Shinigami that can be spared back to the soul society….. including Ichigo."

"It must not be that bad if they need Ichigo." Urahara joked. But Rukia's face remained serious. "It's pretty bad isn't it."

"One of the taichos is very injured. And we've no idea what happened. That's why we're calling everyone back." She stated gravely.

"I see, well you'd best get a move on."

Ichigo though his bag down after getting his homework out. _I must be even more bored than I thought to be doing homework on a Saturday!_ Just then, the window opened and a familiar face appeared in front of him. "Rukia?"

"Come with me." Was all she said before using her glove to propel him out of his body and drag him away.

"Where are we going?" he protested.

"To the Soul Society, Orders from Head-Captain Yamamoto."

The Squad one barracks, Ichigo had never stepped foot inside this building before, and to be entering in on a captain's meeting? He didn't know whether to feel honored or apprehensive. _What if I'm in trouble? Rukia still hasn't told me why I'm here. What if I did something wrong!_ But his musings were cut short as the big doors opened and Rukia pushed him inside.

Entering the large room rather ungracefully, Ichigo was met by the eyes of many Shinigami, some were familiar, others were not, and almost all of them wore white captain's Haioris. _And so the fun begins._ Ichigo thought sourly. He stepped forward, about to address the head-captain and ask what he had done wrong when he felt two hands roughly pull him back.

"You idiot!" Renji hissed in his ear. "What do you think you were doing?"

"About to ask what I did wrong I guess." He replied.

"Wrong?" this time it was Rukia.

"Yeah, why else would I be here." The substitute shinigami was less than apologetic.

"You really are stupid." Renji piped in again, "this meeting hasn't been called because of you!"

Bringing a hand up to scratch the back of his orange-haired head, he smiled. "Well that's good; I was getting pretty nervous there for a while."

Before Renji could make another remark, Head-Captain Yamamoto called them to order. "Attention! This meeting has been called to discuss something very urgent that is happening in the soul society. There is an enemy within our very walls and we've no idea who, or what his intentions are."

"All due respect Sotaicho," Kyourako-Taicho stated, "But how are we supposed to find the information needed to catch the enemy, or even find out who he is."

"Send her in!" the head-captain responded. The double doors opened and Rangiku stepped in. "Rangiku was there when the misfortune happened to Hitsugaya taicho."

Rangiku kept her head bent as she walked, Ichigo noticed she limped slightly. He almost took a step forward, if not for Rukia holding him back.

"Rangiku." She looked up at the head-captain, Ichigo now saw her face. She had dark circles under her eyes, showing sleep had not come to her these past few days. "I know this may be hard for you, but I need you to recount everything that happened to you and Hitsugaya Taicho." She lowered her head, as if she were a small child being asked to repent of a wrong she did. Then she spoke.


	3. flashback: beginnings of the mystery

**Yey! A long chapter! I forgot to do my disclaimer so… I don't own bleach or any of the characters, I just think they rock!**

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_~Flashback~_

_Rangiku walked through the seemingly calm streets of the Rukon district. 'the poverty rate hasn't changed since I was last here.' She thought. She was making her way through the town to a tavern where she was going to meet lieutenants Izuru Kira and Shuuhe Hisagi for a drink but before she stepped inside she felt a familiar reiatsu._

'_Captain!' she thought, 'and it feels like he's fighting someone powerful!'_

_As fast as she could, Rangiku made her way through the busy streets, ignoring the protests of many angry passerbies'. Nearing the edge of town, she felt her captain's reiatsu spike. 'Not too much further.' She ran past the outskirts of the town to what she had believed to be an uninhabited area. It was a large field with green and yellow grass that rose to her mid-thigh. In the middle of the field was a small building. She ran towards it, feeling another spike in her captain's reiatsu. Reaching the door, she through it open and raced inside, only to find the room empty._

'_Strange,' Rangiku thought, 'I can feel captain's reiatsu, but he's not here!' she stepped into the center of the room, looking around and being very cautious. Reaching for Heineko, her grey-blue eyes spotted a shadow of movement, but before she could react, she was knocked to the floor, hands pinned behind her back and a sword to her throat._

"_Don't move!" a gruff voice sounded behind her, she stopped struggling, "get up!" with some difficulty, Rangiku got up and surveyed her position. There were two other men in the room, one had confiscated Heineko. He smirked as he unsheathed the beautiful blade. The steal shone in the dim light._

"_Nice sword." The man holding Heineko smirked. Rangiku glared daggers at the man who seemed not to notice. The two men pulled back a rug in the middle of the floor. Rangiku watched with rising curiosity, despite her predicament, as the rug was moved revealing a trap door in the floor. One of the men opened the door and she was pushed down a set of dark stairs._

_Walking down the seemingly endless dark stairwell, Rangiku could hear the clanging of swords. They reached the bottom and Rangiku saw her captain fighting a man twice his height. This was not unusual considering Toshiro's height, but the man was a head taller than everyone else in the room._

_Forgetting herself, Rangiku called out to him. He turned, and at the sight of her, his face went white as a sheet. The tall man said something Rangiku could not make out, she then gasped in disbelief as Toshiro dropped Hyourinmaru and lowered his head, as the tall man just laughed, an evil, menacing laugh which sent shivers down Rangiku's spine._

_She was pulled onto a platform and chained to the ceiling. But she wasn't paying attention to that, no she was paying attention to the sword which kept slowly cutting her captain. Blood was soon running down the small captain's chest, arms, and face. 'Why isn't he fighting back?' she thought. Hyourinmaru was lying at Toshiro's feet, yet he made no move to grab him._

_Rangiku could only watch as the sword repeatedly bit the flesh of her captain, tearing his_ _shihakusho, and revealing bleeding flesh. But he didn't flinch, nor did he fight back, he stood there, taking it as his tormentor laughed, that evil, menacing laugh._

_This continued for what seemed like an eternity, then suddenly, he stopped. There was no more laughing, no more slashing, nothing. Rangiku watched as the man lowered his sword and began trembling. She looked at Hitsugaya, he was swaying a little, a pool of his own blood at his feet, but his eyes… his eyes were as cold and defiant as ever. This seemed to anger the man, who dropped his sword and punched Toshiro's face. Rangiku cried out as her captain fell to the ground. The man then kicked the young captain so hard he flew across the room, crashing into the wall. The strawberry blonde cringed as she heard the sound of ribs cracking._

_The man was now towering over Toshiro. He bent down and grabbed the boy around the neck raising him up to meet the man's sinister face. Despite himself, the boy could not help but grasp the man's huge arms in a feeble attempt to let oxygen flow freely into his lungs._

_Leaning his face toward Toshiro's ear, the man spoke. "I was going to kill you quickly, but now by the time I'm through with you, you will be so broken, you will beg for death!" he then through the white haired boy across the room, where he skidded to a stop by Rangiku's platform._

_Tears formed in her eyes as she watched them order her captain to get up, only for him to try, but fall back down. Suddenly, she cried out as something hit her back, she turned and saw a man, who had been there the whole time, had hit her in the back with a large stick._

"_Get up!" the man ordered Toshiro again. Slowly he got up, swaying dangerously, blood flowing from his body. "Let's see how an ice wielder reacts to heat." Two men came up behind him and pulled off his haori, then tore off the top of his __shihakusho, revealing his chest. Despite the multiple wounds covering his body, Rangiku couldn't help but notice his finely toned muscles._

_Toshiro's body shook from everything they put him through, but his eyes never lost a hint of their defiance. Even after his tormentors took hot metal to his flesh, even after they whipped him and beat him and preformed almost every imaginable torture, he did not cry out._

_Rangiku's mind went numb, she heard herself scream over and over for them to stop, and over and over she heard that laugh she hated so much, but not one sound emitted from the child captain. 'Why are they doing this?' she thought. 'What reason do they have to torment him like this? Why isn't he fighting back? It makes no sense!'_

_Rangiku could not tell how long it had been before her captain's body collapsed in an unconscious heap, unable to take it any more. One of the men unchained Rangiku and allowed her to go to Toshiro. She didn't know why, but she wasn't about to complain._

_She knelt down and cradled his limp form. "Oh captain."_

"_Do you know how to heal?" The tall man suddenly asked her._

"_What?" she was caught off guard._

"_Do you know how to heal?" he asked again more firmly._

"_O-only a little." She wasn't sure where this was going._

"_stop his bleeding and heal any life threatening wounds." She looked up, confused. "We can't have him dying in the middle of our fun now can we." There was that menacing laugh again._

_Ignoring the man, Rangiku set to work on healing her captain. She felt somewhat guilty, knowing she was only doing this so they could prolong his torture, but she wanted to help him in any way possible._

_Rangiku had stopped the bleeding and was about to move on to a very nasty looking wound when a movement of Hitsugaya's head caught her attention. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked at her. "R-Rangiku?" the usual strength in his voice was gone, for the first time since he had been her captain she heard… weakness._

"_Shhh captain, it's okay." She whispered as she began healing his wound._

"_Where are the men?" he whispered._

"_Still in here… Captain, why won't you fight back?"_

_He was about to answer her when the man heard them and cut him off. "I see he's awake." He roughly pulled Rangiku up. "Enough of that, you go to your cells and we start again tomorrow."_

_Rangiku was hauled away by two men as her captain was carried (none too gently) over the shoulder of the tall man. They were thrown into the cells next to each other and left for the night. Scanning the room, Rangiku noticed a face-sized whole in the wall. She went over and peered inside. Luck would have it that it connected to Toshiro's cell. She saw him lying in the middle of the stone floor, curled up in a ball._

"_Captain." She whispered. Teal-blue eyes looked up to meet hers, they were softer now. "Are you alright?" it was a dumb question, but she didn't know what else to say._

"_Y-yes." The walls went up as he tried to bar his pain from her._

"_Why don't you fight back?" she asked again._

_He hesitated, "because… I don't… I don't want them to hurt you." His voice was so quiet, Rangiku counted it a miracle she was able to hear him._

"_What?"_

"_If… if I don't… do what they say," the weakness and vulnerability was back in the child-captain's voice, "they'll hurt… or even kill you… depending on what I do."_

_Rangiku was filled with mixed emotions, she wanted to cradle Toshiro in her arms, protecting him the way he was protecting her. She was angry, she wanted to barge through the doors of her prison and massacre every last one of those men who were using her to torment her captain. She was confused, she wanted to know why these men were doing what they were doing, these and many other questions were running through her head. "Captain?" but the little captain was already asleep, she curled up and did likewise._

_Sleep came and went too quickly for the strawberry- blonde. Too soon the men were hauling her back out of her cell, and re-chaining her to the ceiling. The room was the same as she had left, except now there was a chair in the middle of the room with wires running in a tangled mess around it all hooked up to one large machine._

_Soon after Rangiku was chained up, Toshiro was dragged out by the arm, stumbling on a few loose chords. They placed him on the chair and strapped down his arms and legs. They then connected wires to his body. The tall man smiled; a smile that could only be matched by his laugh in its ability to make Rangiku shudder._

"_Now we'll see how strong this boy really is." He was about to give the signal when-_

"_WAIT!" Rangiku yelled out. He turned, showing her she had his attention. "Could you at least tell me why you're doing this? Why are you trying to kill my captain?"_

_This provoked a reaction, the man's eyes glazed over, his body went ridged, and his voice, when he spoke was drone-like and robotic. "That information is classified." This change startled the lieutenant, 'what is he?' she thought._

_As quickly as the trance came, it was gone and the man was giving the signal for the control man to start. Rangiku turned her attention to Toshiro; he was jerking around in his chair, eyes wide, teeth clenched. The man made a flick of his hand, and the man at the control turned a knob slightly clockwise. Hitsugaya began to jerk around more fiercely. This continued for a while, but then the man ordered the torment to stop. Toshiro's body shook._

_The man walked over to the trembling captain and slapped him across the face. "You will succumb to the torment, and you will scream." He stated coolly, but his eyes screamed in anger. He walked over to the control panel and every man's eyes went wide as he turned the knob al the way up, then pushed the button. No one's eyes were as wide as Toshiro's. his body shook uncontrollably, Rangiku could physically see the electricity that was shocking him, but what really scared her was his scream. She'd heard him yell, out of anger or annoyance, but never, in all her time of being his lieutenant, had she heard him scream. It was… unearthly._

_One of the men behind her began beating her with his stick, but her mind was too numb to notice. The sight and sound of her captain tore her heart. Then she noticed the tears streaming down his face._

"_Stop It!" she screamed, her voice sounded weird to her ears. She was struggling against her chains, the stick coming down more and more frequently. She felt moisture coming down her own face, tears._

_She suddenly felt the air get cold, ice formed around her, encasing her. Rangiku looked to the men, none of them were being frozen, she started to panic. The ice encased her, giving her enough breathing room, but strong enough so the man's stick couldn't penetrate it. She then looked to her captain and saw a kido blast form in his hand._

"_HADO 33: SOTKUTSUI!"_


	4. start the search

"The blast hit the machine, sending debris flying everywhere. I couldn't see anything through all the smoke it created, except for the man who was hitting me got blown back by a huge chunk of metal. The ice encasing me was blown apart by another chunk, it gashed my leg and I couldn't move. I thought it was because of the wound, but really, I wanted to see if Hitsugaya-Taicho survived.

"I remember hearing screams, explosions and lots of metal hitting metal. I saw my taicho flying towards me using bankai, there was only one flower… but I was impressed he could even use bankai in his state. He landed near me and encircled me with his wings. I heard one final explosion before it all went silent and Hitsugaya-Taicho's bankai crumbled. He fell unconscious into my arms… I carried him to the stairs where I entered. The strangest thing was the men we passed… they weren't human ligaments and body parts strewn over the ground, but robotic!"

This statement caused everyone there to gasp and murmur. "Robots?" Captain Ukitake voiced, "This can only mean they were a ploy in a much bigger threat."

"We must find the creator of these robots, and stop them before they are able to accomplish whatever it is they are planning." Head Captain Yamomoto ordered.

"Hai!" everyone responded in unison.

"Dismissed." The captains and company filed out of the room. Ichigo waited just outside the door along with Rukia until they caught a glimpse of Rangiku.

"Hey! Rangiku!" Ichigo shouted, earning him a jab in the ribs from Rukia's elbow. When Rangiku reached them Ichigo suggested they go visit Toshiro.

"I don't even know if Unohana taicho would let us see him." She protested, she wanted to see her captain, but a part of her was too nervous to go and really see how bad he was, she was scared to see him.

"Well we might as well try, come on!" and without further argument, the three headed toward the squad four barracks, just in time to see lieutenant Isane enter the building.

"Isane Fukutaicho!" Ichigo called to her. She turned and waited for them to reach her.

"Yes?" she already knew why they were there.

"We'd like to see To- I mean Hitsugaya Taicho." Man it was so hard to address him like that.

"My taicho knew you would ask that, she said you could as long as you don't touch anything or make any kind of disturbance. Hitsugaya Taicho's condition is still unstable, you're lucky my taicho is even allowing you to see him."

"We are very grateful." Rukia thanked her, Rangiku remained silent.

"Follow me."

They were heading through the halls of squad four. Soon they were entering a room, Toshiro's room. It took all of Rangiku's strength to keep herself composed. The only thing visible under the bandages was his face and hair, and even some of that was covered. The bandages were soaked in his blood, the once pure white sheets were dotted with red. IV wires ran down under the sheets, they knew they were connected to him. And there was the constant _Beep…Beep…Beep_ of the heart monitor. Even Ichigo had nothing to say.

Rangiku went over and took a seat beside his bed. She grabbed his bandaged hand and began stroking it softly. Rukia went to stand behind her as did Ichigo, they said nothing, giving her strength in their silence. Each of them hoping the small captain would not be lost.

Toshiro lay on a familiar plane of ice, watching a familiar ice dragon fly towards him. The ruby red eyes of the dragon were locked on the boy as he landed.

"**Why did you abandon me, little one?"** he asked

"You know why I had to, Hyourinmaru." Toshiro responded. "You know I ran every possibility through in my mind, I did the only thing that would insure her safety."

"**You could have slaughtered them all quickly if you had used me."** The dragon sounded indignant.

"You know as well as I that the way they had her in a position that she would have been dead before I could reach her, even in bankai."

"**I just wish it hadn't come to that."**

"I know, thank you for protecting her."

"**It was no great deed."**

"Still."

"**How are you feeling?"** Hyourinmaru changed the subject, even though he knew the answer he wondered what his little prodigy would say.

"Terrible." Toshiro had long since learned it was impossible to lie to the dragon.

"**Hang in there."** The dragon knew Toshiro was feeling much worse than terrible, but he let it slide. Wrapping his icy body around the boy, Hyourinmaru brought his face directly in front of Toshiro's. **"I'm sorry, little one, but it's time for you to wake up."**

The captain looked into the dragon's eyes; he knew he could not stay long, there were too many things left unanswered. He leaned into the dragon and closed his eyes.

Rangiku sat by the still form of her captain, she brushed aside the piece of hair which hung down over his left eye. She felt Ichigo's hand on her shoulder and looked up at him. He smiled a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Rangiku, it would take a lot more that a few robots to kill Toshiro, he'll be fine."

"How many times do I have to tell you, Kurosaki, it's Hitsugaya taicho to you." A weak voice filled the room. Everyone turned to him in shock, Rangiku was about to engulf him in one of her infamous hugs when she thought better of it.

"Taicho?" ended up being all she could say.

"Why are you all standing around gaping at me, it's not like I was dead."

"Excuse us for being worried about you, taicho; you gave everyone a big heart attack there, we thought you were a goner… I thought you…oh taicho!" despite everything, she gave in and hugged him, not as hard as she normally would, but enough to make him yelp. Then she buried her head in his chest and sobbed.

He could only stare at her, partly because the state he was in wouldn't allow him to do anything else, but also out of shock… had she really been that worried about him?

Rukia and Ichigo had long since left the room to give them some time, and to find Unohana. They found her in her office, working on a bit of paperwork. "How is it that none of the other captains seem to have the mound of paperwork that Toshiro has?" Ichigo voiced, earning him the second jab from Rukia that day.

"Unohana taicho, I am pleased to inform you that Hitsugaya taicho is awake." Rukia said. Unohana got up from the table and headed for the room, the other two close in her wake.

Upon their arrival Unohana gasped, "That's truly astounding, I was not expecting you awake for a few more weeks at least."

"Well there are too many things I need to do." Toshiro responded.

"Oh, taicho, don't say paperwork drives you… even to wake up so soon from a coma!" Rangiku pouted.

"Of course not! I need to find out who tried to kill me, if there after anyone else, and make sure what happened doesn't happen again."

_Such a big job for one so small._ Ichigo thought. "Hey, Toshiro, need any help?"

"It's Hitsugaya taicho to you," he yawned, "and in my preset state I would look the fool to say I don't need help, so this once, Kurosaki, yes… I would very much appreciate your help."

Everyone's eyes got wide, Toshiro had never asked for help! Ever! "Alright then, where do we start?" But the little captain was asleep


	5. strange signs

sorry i haven't updated in a while, but her's the next chapter :)

also, please review, i enjoy feedback good or bad because it helps me know what i'm doing right and what i need to fix

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Toshiro sat awake in the squad four barracks, pondering the recent events. More importantly, trying to figure out who or what had the extensive knowledge to pull it off.

_Not Aizen,_ He thought, _He wouldn't be attacking this early in the game, plus, his working level is not with robotics. Is there a group we don't know about? Between the regular hollows, espadas, arracnar, and the whole band of traitors in Hueco Mundo, plus the regular souls on earth, and our weakened state thanks to the loss of three captains, we don't have time to worry about another group, especially if they pose the same kind of threat the Bounts, or even the Quincies, did._ The white haired captain put his head in his hands. _On top of that, Matsumoto probably hasn't done one ounce of paperwork in my absence._

"_**You worry way too much, little one"**_Hyourinmaru's voice was heard in the prodigy's head.

"_well someone has too"_ he retorted.

"_**my aren't we feisty."**_ The dragon chuckled.

"_enough! I'm going to sleep."_

"_**goodnight, Toshiro."**_

Rangiku wiped a hand across her forehead, leaving a trail of black ink in its wake.

Five more.

Writing was the only sound that could be heard in the vast office.

Only four now.

Sipping her tea, which had a few drops of sake in it, she returned to her task.

Lucky number three!

Write, write… two more…last one!

*Sigh* Rangiku smiled triumphantly, she had finished all the paperwork. The arduous task had left her so exhausted, she couldn't go out drinking with Hisagi and Kira.

"Taicho better take me shopping for all the work I've done!" she pouted. Collapsing on the couch she curled up and went to sleep.

Rukia rested her head on Ichigo's shoulder and closed her eyes. They were dating and had been since the vizard incident started. Ichigo had suggested they take a look around the districts close to the attack sight to see if they could find anything suspicious. Nothing had come up.

Ichigo leaned over and kissed her forehead, "Thanks for coming with me."

"Who else would help you find your way around." She teased nuzzling her head into his shoulder.

He wrapped his arms around her. "This whole thing is messed up, how are we supposed to find anything out?"

Rukia pulled back and looked at him, "Do I hear doubt in the great Ichigo Kurosaki's voice?"

He smiled at her, "No I just am frustrated that we haven't made any progress."

"we could go check out the attack site."

"But aren't Soi Fon and the Stealth force checking that out."

"No, currently they're on a mission in the world of the living with Lady Youroichi."

"Well if I had known that, it would have been the first place we checked out."

"I was wondering."

"you could have spoke up."

"I figured you knew what you were doing so I left it alone." They got up and shoumpoed (sp?) over to the site.

"It really is small from the outside." Rukia commented when they had reached the site. Ichigo pushed open the door and he and Rukia stepped inside.

"We pull up the carpet right?" he asked while pushing the carpet aide.

"Why do you ask rhetorical questions?" she asked, "They're pointless if you don't want someone to answer."

"They help me remember things." Ichigo pulled up the door in the floor. "Let's go."

They went down the stairs into a large stone room. Metal was strewn all over the ground, some of the parts were still moving. "Looks like a scene from a Si-Fi film." Ichigo commented. Rukia picked up one of the robotic arms and rotated it slowly on her hands. She noticed most of the skin covering the arms had been blown off from the explosion. Under a torn piece of skin covering the palm, Rukia noticed something inscribed into the metal. Pulling of the rest of the skin, Rukia saw it was a picture of the sun surrounded by clouds.

"Ichigo! Look at this!"

The orange haired teen walked over to her and studied the picture. "What do you suppose that means?"

"I don't know," she replied, "we'll take it back to the Serietei for examination."

"I'm going to look around a little more." He told her.

"Alright, I'll be upstairs, this place is depressing me."

"I won't be long." Ichigo walked through the ruin, he noticed an area of completely black ash. _That must be where the explosion happened._ He looked slightly to the left at what used to be the remains of a chair. Broken wires surrounded it, still spurting electricity. He bent down and touched it, sending a shock of pain throughout his body.

"OUCH!...okay that was stupid." He said scanning his eyes around the room. Ichigo saw a door in the wall, he walked over and entered it, inside were lots of damp dark cells. _So I go from a Si-Fi movie, the a castle dungeon._

The explosion hadn't reached there, but he still wanted to see if there was any evidence. Inside the cells all he found was straw and in one, blood, but nothing else.

He looked to the end of the rows of dungeons and saw a door, different than the others, at the end. He looked inside and his eyes widened, "no way!"

He ran up the stairs, reaching the top, he bolted out the door, nearly running over his petite girlfriend.

"Ichigo, what's wrong?" she asked him.

"You'll never believe this," he began, "But I entered the cell hall, at the end was a door, different from the others so I looked inside and guess what was in there."

"What?"

"one of those huge TV's the seirietei uses to communicate!"

"That can't be! That means one was stolen, or someone within our very walls wants Hitsugaya taicho, and possibly others dead!"

Ichigo let out a deep breath, "This just keeps getting more and more messed up."


	6. hospital visits

**thanks for the reviews, sorry it took so long to update, my internet's been down.**

* * *

Unohana walked into Toshiro's patient room and found Ichigo and Rukia standing around him as the captain inspected a metal arm.

"Hitsugaya taicho, you have a visitor." She announced.

"Thank you, send them in." he answered. Rangiku stepped in and bowed to Unohana as she left, then turned to the three in the room.

"Taicho how are you feeling?" she asked.

"Much better, thank you." He replied still inspecting the arm.

"What are you looking at? She walked up to his bed and peered over his shoulder.

"Matsumoto, what do you make of this?" he pointed to the in scripted picture on the arm.

"Well…. I don't know… it's a sun."

"Thanks for establishing that obvious fact for the umpteenth time." Ichigo said.

"At least I'm trying! What have you done?"

"Found this arm and a very other important piece of information."

On hearing Ichigo say this, Toshiro looked up, curious and even Rangiku looked interested. When Ichigo remained silent, Toshiro decided he needed to voice the question.

"And what is this important information, Kurosaki?"

"Oh right, sorry," Ichigo stammered. Rukia smiled and shook her head while Toshiro merely rolled his eyes. "When I went to the place you and Toshiro w-"

"Hitsugaya taicho."

"yeah, anyway, in one of the back rooms was one of those tv things you guys use. What are they called?"

Toshiro's face gave away the surprise his voice hid. "They don't have a specific name, we call them monitors."

"Thanks Toshiro."

"You did that on purpose!" the captain steamed, Ichigo merely smiled and rustled the boy's hair. Rukia went to grab him, but Rangiku was faster. She yanked his wrist away and pulled him away from the other two. Glaring into his eyes she warned him. "Being turned into a strawberry popsicle will be the least of your worries if you antagonize him further. He's still recovering and in his anger he's likely to reopen wounds. If you do anything else that could cause potential harm, you'll regret it, 'kay."

Ichigo nodded, speechless, and the carefree smile returned to Rangiku's face. "good."

She walked back over to the others with Ichigo a few steps behind. _Another person is added to my list of people not to piss off._ He thought.

Toshiro smirked, although he didn't like his battles fought for him, he found it humorous Rangiku was able to intimidate Ichigo like that.

Rukia turned her head toward the captain, "it's time I report this to my taicho."

He inclined his head toward her, "thank you for informing me on your findings." She bowed to him, forcing Ichigo to do the same, then they left.

"Matsumoto."

"Yes, taicho." She was beside him in an instant.

"what do you make of what Kurosaki said?"

"It was shocking, that they had a monitor. What do you think that means, sir?"

"It could mean a few things, the first and most likely being that the creators of the robots were smart enough to know how to make one. The second possibility is that one was stolen from within the seireitei, and the third is that someone from within the seireitei… is behind it. I don't think I need to explain why the best option would be the first. We don't want anyone being able to slip in without us noticing, and we certainly don't want anyone within our walls against us. For all sakes I pray it's the first."

"Do you really think it's possible? For someone in the seireitei to be…"

"Yes, I think it is possible, but not probable."

"I see." Rangiku looked out the window, she was glad they'd given him one. He didn't do well in closed spaces.

"Matsumoto," she turned her attention back to him. "How much paperwork have you done in my absence?"

She smiled, knowing full well what he was expecting. "All of it, sir."

He stared at her, disbelieving, she met his stare and smiled even wider.

"You know I don't appreciate jokes." He said.

"Would I joke about this with you? I stayed up all night! I didn't even get to go out with Hisagi and Kira!"

Toshiro gaped at her, "Well… I … thank you." He said, "You can take the day off, go shopping, hot springs, do whatever you want." She smiled, pulled up a chair, and sat down beside him.

***

Jushiro Ukitake sat in his office drinking tea and enjoying the sight of his garden when a knock was heard at his door. "come in." the door opened and Kioney and Sentaro, his two third seats, barged in shouting in unison. "Rukia Kuchki and Ichigo Kurosaki requesting permission to speak to you!" then without waiting for a reply they glared daggers at one another, and began shouting at each other.

"I wanted to tell him!"

"I'm older, it should be my right!"

"Well I'm taicho's favorite! He'd rather hear me than listen to me than hear your loud obnoxious voice all day long!"

"Well he'd rather see me, a handsom man, than you, a girl who looks like a little boy."

"I do not look like a boy!"

"Do to!"

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do NOT!"

Ukitake coughed and the two immediately silenced. "The visitors." Ukitake reminded. "Please send them in."

They both rushed out, and soon Ichigo and Rukia were entering the captain's office with Ichigo carrying the arm. "Ukitake taicho, Rukia bowed, "we have something to tell you."

Ukitake nodded, "Let's go out to the gardens." Once they had, and were seated comfortably, the two once again recounted what they had discovered.

***

It was late midnight, and although most of the seireitei slept, Toshiro could not. He did not want to wait any longer for his body to recover, there was too much wasted time already. Even Hyourinmaru was growing impatient.

_I've spent too much time in here._ He thought. Throwing of his sheets, he sat up wincing, then swung his legs over the side of the bed. With a huff, the boy pushed himself onto the floor.

Toshiro did not realize how hurt he still was until his feet hit the floor. Pain shot up through his body and he cried out as his legs crumpled under him. As he fell he reached out and grabbed a table near him, sending a tray of dinner wear, not cleared up by a new member of squad four, crashing down on him.

He hit the floor hard, glass shattered around him. He didn't move, the fall had reopened a few of the deeper wounds rekindling the pain that had been slowly subsiding.

"**Oh little one,"** Hyourinmaru said. **"what have you done to yourself?"**

Toshiro thought he heard the sound of running footsteps, but they grew further away until they disappeared. He was about to try and get up but Hyourinmaru stopped him.** "Think! Do you want to cause further injury to yourself?"**

"No, I-"

"**Then don't move, use the brain everyone is so sure you have."**

The child captain didn't respond, maybe someone would come by and help him. "I hate to be dependent on other people."

"**Who knows better than I? but right now, you must swallow your pride and admit your helplessness."**

Toshiro sighed, he did not say any more, he had blood from his reopened wounds and was slowly starting to lose consciousness. The door opened, a figure moved across the room, casting a long, dark shadow across the wall. The figure came closer until it was right over the little captain. Toshiro was alarmed, he couldn't since any spiritual pressure so he couldn't tell who it was. Slowly he looked up, only to see Retsu Unohana standing over him. "Hitsugaya taicho, what have you done to yourself?" Then consciousness left him.


End file.
